Two basketball teams from Christian Academy of Knoxville traveled to Chattanooga late Thursday afternoon for a pair of non-region contests at Silverdale, but both visiting teams felt totally at home in the brand new Silverdale Center as they both rolled to easy wins.
The Lady Warriors got things rolling with a 60-40 victory in the first game while the CAK guys followed with a 64-47 victory over the Silverdale guys.
CAK coach J.D. Johnson knows that his team has been playing their best basketball of the season, having won nine of 11 coming in. They had won six straight before getting beat in their last game, so the main goal was for the Warriors to get back to their old style.
Johnson was just happy they did just that for the most part.
“We made it interesting there for a minute, but I thought we defended well and got back to guarding the way we had been before that last loss,” Johnson said after a brief chat with his team.
“We had a 20-point lead and let them get within seven, but we built a little confidence as we proved we could take a punch and still survive. We made a couple of adjustments when at the start of the fourth quarter and we able to put the game away at the end.
“With this win, we celebrate because we’ll be seeded third in our tournament and that we’ll be playing at home, but we just need to keep taking care of business,” the coach said after his team’s record improved to 16-11.
Silverdale coach Slater Belew was looking for a good opponent in his team’s final regular-season game and he almost got more than he bargained for.
“I was hoping for a good test and we certainly got one, but I was hoping we’d respond in a more favorable way,” he began after his team’s record dropped to 15-11.
“We used this game as a barometer of where we are at this point and we identified some things we still need to work on. I thought that turnovers killed us. It’s hard to beat anyone when you have as many as we did as we have to take better care of the ball if we hope to get very far.
“We had a little talk at the half and I challenged them a little bit. We could have folded when we got down by 20, but we kept fighting. We just couldn’t get over the hump, but now we have to get ready for our tournament here next week,” he added.
Matt Murray gave the Warriors an early lead with a 3 from the wing in the first minute of the game and CAK scored the final five points for an 11-7 lead when the first quarter ended.
The Seahawks got within two to start the second stanza, but never regained the lead and trailed by eight points at 28-20 when the halftime horn sounded.
The Warriors, who sank 10 from long range, had four in the third quarter alone as that eight point lead stretched to 45-25 with 1:41 remaining following a three-point play by Denzel Jackson.
The difference was still 18 when the third quarter ended and it looked like CAK might just breeze to another win, but the Seahawks weren’t quite ready to toss in the white towel.
Brett Wright led the charge for Silverdale as he scored 13 of his game-high 24 points in the final eight minutes, but it was a putback by lanky Kennedy Okpara with 3:45 remaining that got the Seahawks within seven at 50-43.
About the time the Silverdale crowd started making some noise in hopes the comeback would continue, CAK ended all doubt with a dozen unanswered points in the next two and a half minutes for a commanding 62-43 lead and the outcome had been determined.
Carter scored 19 points to lead the Warriors and was one of three CAK players in double figures.
Evan Coffman followed with 15 while Murray finished with 10. Nathan Benton and Jackson were next with nine points apiece.
Wright’s 24 topped Silverdale’s scoring list while Okpara was next with nine. Bryson Cline added seven, but it wasn’t enough to pull out the win.
Silverdale did have an unofficial 26-22 rebounding advantage as Wright grabbed 11 and Okpara four. Carter had nine for the Warriors while Coffman claimed five.
CAK GIRLS 60, SILVERDALE 40: It didn’t take long for the Lady Warriors to take charge as they spotted Silverdale a quick 2-0 lead before scoring the next eight points. The difference was 17-6 when the first quarter ended.
The lead continued to stretch with the difference being 26 points at the end of the third quarter with CAK comfortably ahead, 54-28.
Silverdale did outscore the CAK subs by a 12-6 margin in the final eight minutes.
Madi Jones and Zoie Bourgoyne both scored 13 points to lead the Lady Warriors, who improved to 20-7 with the 20-point win. Keira Leffew and Emily Wilson offered strong support with a dozen points each.
Tori Gibson scored 13 to lead Silverdale, now 15-13 on the season. Lauren Kuglar was next with 10 while Kelsie Johnson added nine.
While the Silverdale has finished their regular season, the Lady Seahawks will host GPS on Friday as they will have played eight games in the past 12 days.
GIRLS SUMMARY
CAK 17 16 21 6 -- 60
SILVERDALE 6 10 12 12 -- 40
CAK (60) – Campbell, Madi Jones 13, Keira Leffew 12, Ibach 2, Carroll 6, Day, Emily Wilson 12, Zoie Bourgoyne 13, Harrison 2.
SILVERDALE (40) – Bledsoe 1, Stiner, Lauren Kugler 10, Sullivan 2, Stinson 3, Tori Gibson 13, Johnson 9, Hensley 2.
3-POINT GOALS: CAK 7 (Jones 3, Leffew, Carroll 2, Wilson); Silverdale 4 (Kugler 2, Stinson, Johnson).
BOYS SUMMARY
CAK 11 17 17 19 -- 64
SILVERDALE 7 13 7 20 -- 47
CAK (64) – McNeil-Harrison 2, Simpson, Benton 9, Matt Murray 10, Evan Coffman 15, Luke Carter 19, Jackson 9.
SILVERDALE (47) – Botts 2, Okpara 9, Cline 7, Mullins, Brett Wright 24, Holland 5, Bambrey.
3-POINT GOALS: CAK 10 (Benton 3, Murray 2, Coffman 3, Carter 2); Silverdale 4 (Cline, Wright 2, Holland).
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)